“I´m not talking about the space outside of the shape, that rounds the volume, the one where the forms live, I´m talking about the space that the forms create, the one that lives in and the one, that is much more active when is hidden” Eduardo Chillida

The concept of the new headquarters of Metal Foundation, in Aviles, was born in the first visit and from the memory of the place. The slabs parks of the factory of ArcelorMittal, where placed just by our site and the idea of staring to play with this big pieces of steel is present from the first drawings and working models. We start then with the idea of playing with that, the reference of Richard Serra, Chillida and Oteiza, was always in our mind.

Several slabs, containers of the programme, move over each other, living placed to courtyards, squares, terraces, etc…

It´s important to get an alive building, a building to be lived, with walking roofs over the city, the harbour, the sea…A building that can be used much more than the only timetable of the industrial park where is placed, a new space for Aviles.

An industrial building that links the old memory, the factory area, the pipes, cranes, etc…with the city of Aviles, in an urban explosion period.
A set of black volumes, meets with the visitant, opening to the south, to the city. The red colour runs in the accesses to the building and in the circulations, remaining the sensations of the steel production. Inside, the Light floods the building, contrasting with the Darkness outsider.

The steel structure and the installations are naked, in order to be shown in the different courses that the Foundation Metal will teach in.
Steel is the chosen material and main character on site. Not only because the building is for Metal Foundation, it´s also a material in the memory of the place and of Aviles. The steel structure that forms the building is produced by electrical oven, what means that is 100 % recicled and 70% coming for recycling. It´s a screwed structure, what allows the renoval of the building, if it would be necesary in a near future. The record timming to rise the building structure [6 weeks] it’s only possible with steel. The composite steel decks for concrete slabs, will also improve the timming on site.

Cladding is planned starting from a module of 30 cm, with st cassetes profiles and st Lumiere perforated profiles in black. This profiles has been designed by the japanese architect Toyo Ito.

In the case of the façade, tradition and innovation come together combining brick walls and prefabricated steel profiles in a ventilated façade.

The enclosure is formed by a 120mm brick wall with a 40mm layer of sprayer polyurethane working as thermal insulation. A galvanized steel secondary structure is fixed to this wall, where are bolted the steel profiles that complete the ventilated façade. The profiles are 0,6mm steel sheets, perforated and plain.

Internally as in almost all the other examples, the building is finished with a double 13mm plasterboard screwed to 46mm steel studs with an inner rockwool insulation 40mm thickness.

- 4 M Euros
- 3.340 m2 surface
- 3 Levels
- 300 tones of screwed steel structure
- Structure 100 % recyclable – 70 % from recycling
- Perforated beams ACB
- Composite Steel decks for concrete slabs
- Facades : Lumiere + Cassetes in black